Northern Ontario developments!

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by super39

Any new housing developments in the city? Or is it the same old Parkdale / River Terrace / Woodcrest areas?

The city is ending the moratorium on building in the South Neebing area and lots are being opened up in Mount Forest Estates and across Hwy 61 in the area behind Nor'wester View School. The land is already cleared in Mount Forest Estates, the Nor'wester View lots will come later. Another small development (~20 lots) is going in near the Fort William Country Club. There are still lots available in Whitewater. Part of the former Silvertree subdivision off of Hilldale is being opened up, but that is only a minor number of lots again. The final pieces of Parkdale are being opened up soon too. River Terrace on the lake side of Golf Links/Junot is pretty well full. Some lots are supposed to go in between Junot/Golf Links and the T-Bay Expressway, but no work has started there yet. As for Woodcrest, I don't get over to that area much. I know building was going on around the school. As far as lot supply there or any new areas opening up, I am not sure if anything is coming up.

[TbayON]

1. The empty lot along Carrick by Superstore is already owned by someone, and they must have some kind of plans. The lot was cleared last summer, but nothing has happened since.
2.CIBC won't move, they just preformed extensive renovations on that branch. I think they had to do even more work after the May flood. That location earns them a lot of exposure too. The only way they will move from there is if access for customers becomes a major complaint, which may be the case one day. It is a pain in the — at times getting in and out of that place.
3. Prime commercial land, can't see the city wanting it to go to high density residential. I suppose money talks though. I would be more excited to see a major hotel constructed there instead.
4. Perfect spot for residential! Does the LRCA own that land? If so, will they try to hang onto it hoping one day they will be able to build that office building?
5. I like that idea. It could be modelled after Waterfront Dr. in Winnipeg, which was very successful and looks great other than the odd person passed out in the bushes from over-consumption at night.
6. That was the first spot I thought of when residential and Intercity were mentioned in the same sentence.
7. There is some existing higher density residential along Vickers, so it should be a good fit. It would help clean the area up a bit too. Its not really run down now, but a little face lift would go a long way.

If the city wants to deal with the contamination, they will need to go to the province and the feds. Both levels of gov't seem pretty willing, no matter what party is in at the time, to throw money at clean-up and restoration projects. They like it because then they can tell people they are 'green'.

I thought the former Holsum Bakery property was to become a strip mall? That was a while ago I heard this so maybe things have changed already. I don't think there is an empty school left in this city anymore. Sir John A. may have been the last one, and it is off the market now.

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The city has put 401 Donald St. E., which is the former Superior North EMS offices and warehouse, up for sale. The asking price is $255 000.

Apparently the city is providing an update tomorrow on some work that still has to be completed for phase 1 of the waterfront development. I'm thinking just off the top of my head that its something to do with/around the condos/hotel that had to wait while that goes on.

[vid]

Originally Posted by TbayON

1. The empty lot along Carrick by Superstore is already owned by someone, and they must have some kind of plans. The lot was cleared last summer, but nothing has happened since.

The one immediately behind Superstore is owned by Performance Kia/Halfway Motors, they're storing cars on it. TBayTel has also erected a mini-cell tower on the site.

Originally Posted by TbayON

2.CIBC won't move, they just preformed extensive renovations on that branch. I think they had to do even more work after the May flood. That location earns them a lot of exposure too. The only way they will move from there is if access for customers becomes a major complaint, which may be the case one day. It is a pain in the — at times getting in and out of that place.

The bank could potentially be a ground-level tenant of future development at the site. It is just a small part of the area I highlighted, and considering its proximity to the intersection, might not be the best place for residential.

Originally Posted by TbayON

3. Prime commercial land, can't see the city wanting it to go to high density residential. I suppose money talks though. I would be more excited to see a major hotel constructed there instead.

Tax rates for commercial land is higher than high-density residential, but high-density residential is more valuable, which translates to higher tax revenue from the project compared to just a strip mall.

In placing apartment towers around Intercity, I am thinking along the lines of places like Vancouver's secondary hubs, Mississauga's Square One, or Winnipeg's Polo Park. The near total lack of any residential land use near our largest mall is actually quite unique to our city.

Originally Posted by TbayON

4. Perfect spot for residential! Does the LRCA own that land? If so, will they try to hang onto it hoping one day they will be able to build that office building?

That particular project is dead. The cost was too high, the location was unusual, and the opposition was considerably high.

What they're going to do as an alternative, I don't know.

Originally Posted by TbayON

5. I like that idea. It could be modelled after Waterfront Dr. in Winnipeg, which was very successful and looks great other than the odd person passed out in the bushes from over-consumption at night.

Winnipeg's Waterfront Drive is pretty much a pocket of upper-middle-class condos in a poor neighbourhood. The area along William Street wouldn't be quite as unique.

Originally Posted by TbayON

I thought the former Holsum Bakery property was to become a strip mall? That was a while ago I heard this so maybe things have changed already.

Nothing has really progressed on the site. The old silos up the street are also "supposed to become a strip mall next year" for the past five years. Now that the city has implemented new image route guidelines, I think building a strip mall at either locations will become a little bit more difficult.

[Chadillaccc]

Does anyone know the current estimates for the population of the city and metropolitan area separately? Surely there must be some growth, if not, impressive growth.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Does anyone know the current estimates for the population of the city and metropolitan area separately? Surely there must be some growth, if not, impressive growth.

The most recent numbers up to 2011 from StatsCan show a decline in population from 2006, but I think that trend has changed now. StatsCan doesn't have the greatest track record for producing population numbers in NWO though. As they say there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics. I think with the arrival of so many First Nations peoples in Thunder Bay from northern reserves (which is a trend occurring in many western Canadian cities like Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon etc.), determining population is very difficult.

I would have a very hard time believing Thunder Bay's population isn't experiencing at least modest growth. The housing crunch we are experiencing and have been experiencing over the past year helps convince me of this. Thunder Bay does need to start bringing in some younger people, and the best chance we have there is to bring back our own young people who left for jobs elsewhere. There are efforts underway working locally on this exact concept though, which is a good sign. I think they are working too, as I hear pretty often of people coming back to Thunder Bay from out west now.

[Chadillaccc]

Yeah I knew about the 2011 numbers. But I thought there might be new estimates maybe. I'm sure it's grown a bit.

[vid]

Thunder Bay has lots of young people. They're just aboriginal, and in our racist society, that doesn't count. Our best chance would be to educate and employ them, but there doesn't seem to be much political will from any party to adequately do either.

Very few Northern Ontario reserves were completely enumerated, and aboriginals who live primarily on reserves but are in the city for short term periods either didn't fill in the census or didn't claim to live here.

I believe the city proper has closer to 115,000 people, while the CMA and unincorporated fringe has about 134,000. There are also those in the mining industry that are living in our hotels and don't spend much time in the city itself but are based here, that add a thousand or two more on top of that.

As for actual statistics, who knows. There isn't really such a thing as accuracy here. The labour force survey suggests our population 15 and up is slowly growing. The population of white people is probably still going down.

[Chadillaccc]

So the city and urban region of Thunder Bay are technically larger than Duluth's city and urban area?

The only difference is Duluth's metro area is 280 000. But then again, the area of its metro is probably half the size of El Salvador so doesn't really count

[vid]

Duluth's metro is really odd because, St. Louis county is the second largest county in the US east of the Mississippi and has two urban areas in it, Duluth and the Iron Range. The Iron Range and points north of it has around 52,000 people just in the organized municipalities (more in the townships), which leaves just under 150,000 people south of it, mostly around Duluth. The municipalities in St. Louis County that make up Duluth have 99,000 people. Superior adds another 30,000 so it is bigger than Thunder Bay, but not by much.

Thunder Bay is the most populous municipality on Lake Superior, but St. Louis County is the most populous upper-level municipality. Thunder Bay District (county) only has 150,000.

[vid]

I compiled all the communities in St. Louis, Carlton, and Lake Counties in Minnesota and Douglas County in Wisconsin, and got these two numbers:

Duluth-Superior-Cloquet has about 190,000 people in a 30 mile radius of downtown Duluth. About 140,000 of these people live in communities that are in the immediate Duluth area, and more than a third live in rural areas.

The Iron Range, from Grand Rapids (Itasca County) to Babbitt, has around 100,000 people. 60,000 of them live in St. Louis County and are included in Duluth's metro area.

Thunder Bay has approximately 135,000 people within a 50 mile radius of Intercity Mall. This includes the communities of Nipigon and Red Rock.

[Chadillaccc]

Duluth's official metropolitan area has 280 000 though. Somehow. Hence why I said it's prolly half the size of El Salvador

[Chadillaccc]

Hey just throwing this out there, I don't wanna start a big —-fest like what happened with Winnipeg but, has anyone considered doing a Northern Ontario section or SSP Local? I think it could def use one. There's lots going on in Thunder Bay, there's the waterfront redevelopment in Kenora, re-opening of tons of mines and mills all over the north, a few things going on in Sault Ste. Marie, and I dunno what is happening with Sudbury, North Bay, and Timmins, but I'm sure there are things. Would be cool to have it all organized into a place so that the bigger projects can have their own focused threads.

Just throwing it out there though. No need to freak out.

[Chadillaccc]

and by Northern Ontario "section" I just mean like a city page type thing like Toronto, Edmonton, and St. John's have. Not SSP locals, but things that organize the common interest threads for one region/metropolitan area.

[TbayON]

The site for new the 5-storey at the TBRHSC has been fully cleared. The heavy equipment on site was just finishing up flattening the site off today.

[btimmis1]

Hello! I have been lurking on here for quite some time, but decided I should start contributing too, so here are a couple shots I took today. Sorry for the crappy quality pictures from my cell phone.

Marriott hotel next to Superstore:


Terra Vista condos at Balmoral/Beverly:

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by btimmis1

Hello! I have been lurking on here for quite some time, but decided I should start contributing too, so here are a couple shots I took today. Sorry for the crappy quality pictures from my cell phone.

Welcome aboard! Always nice to have someone else to contribute.

[Chadillaccc]

My Aunts flower shop at 567 Memorial Ave. in Port Arthur is closing tomorrow. She's owned and operated it for 17 years. That's too bad The place is called 'From the Heart Florist'

[vid]

567 Memorial is one of the most eclectic strip malls in the city.

I don't think Northern Ontario needs a local, but it might be appropriate to start an individual Thunder Bay developments thread since we're dominating this discussion.

[TbayON]

We only really hear from Dwils01 out of the Soo occasionally and I recall hearing a little bit from Timmins a while back, so having a Thunder Bay developments thread isn't a bad idea. Or I guess we can continue to dominate this one too and save the trouble of having to start a Thunder Bay only page since no one is really complaining about the excessive T-Bay content.
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The rumour mill is spinning again in Thunder Bay, and this time it is about Costco again. Supposedly the company has already picked out a parcel of land in Innova Park and it is just a matter of time before they begin construction. Costco's arrival in Thunder Bay has been the subject of many many rumours before but I have been told this time its the real deal. I do see it as being possible given some of the developments in the local retail scene as of lately.

[btimmis1]

Originally Posted by TbayON

The rumour mill is spinning again in Thunder Bay, and this time it is about Costco again. Supposedly the company has already picked out a parcel of land in Innova Park and it is just a matter of time before they begin construction. Costco's arrival in Thunder Bay has been the subject of many many rumours before but I have been told this time its the real deal. I do see it as being possible given some of the developments in the local retail scene as of lately.

Can the Thunder Bay market really handle the current rate of retail expansion? I have been in Thunder Bay since 2007 and there has been a huge amount of retail development during that time for a city with minimal population growth, and I understand a lot of the major stores were built only a few years before I arrived. Clearly in the early 2000's the city was underserved, but I wonder if we could be going in the other direction now if a Costco opens up? Those places need a huge amount of traffic unless it is much smaller than those in Southern Ontario.